September 4th Patch Notes

We have all been waiting for it and DICE has finally delivered the long awaited notes for tomorrow’s patch, which weighs in at around 1-2GB (depending on system, more info below), and that’s without the Armored Kill download!

Battlefield 3: Armored Kill will also go live for PS3 Premium members tomorrow along with the patch.

Contents

WEAPONS BALANCING

Reload timer adjustments

A number of weapons have had their reload timers adjusted to better fit their animations and gameplay balance. For most of these weapons the gameplay timers were slightly out of sync with the actual reload animation, meaning the player could either fire before the animation was done, or had to wait longer than the animation played. Primarily this is a cosmetic change (around 0.1sec); however for a few weapons (M416, F2000, FAMAS, KH2002, MK3A1, JNG90, MG36 QBU-88, SVD, Pecheneg, SCAR-H, AN-94) this should also improve the performance of the weapon. Full details below:

A select set of weapons have had their recoil adjusted based on joint community feedback and statistical analysis to provide greater balance in the weapon choices players make. Specifically, the M16A3 and M4A1 have increased recoil to make them less attractive in all situations. Competing weapons like the SG553, G36C and M416 have been improved to also increase viable player choice in primary weapons.

SG553: Horizontal recoil reduced to help make this weapon more controllable.

MG36: Vertical recoil reduced to make this weapon more controllable.

M416: Vertical, Horizontal, and First Shot recoil have all been reduced to make this weapon clearly different from the M16A3.

M16A3: Recoil amounts slightly increased.

M4A1: Recoil amounts slightly increased.

G36C: Vertical and First Shot recoil amounts reduced.

M16A4 and M4: These weapons have been adjusted for the increased recoil they now have. The burst versions of these weapons give the player a reduction in horizontal recoil for greater control.

Miscellaneous weapons changes

FIM92 and IGLA now lock on to air vehicles at both lower altitudes and longer distances.

VEHICLE RELATED TWEAKS & FIXES

Removed flares from gunner position in helicopters. With the right combination of unlocks, an attack helicopter could be effectively invulnerable to lock on missiles. Removing the flares from the gunner balances the attack helicopter against ground fire.

Air Radar now shows friendly vehicles as well.

Helicopter weapons can now destroy equipment with splash damage.

The Laser Designator unlock on the Scout Helicopters has been changed from a Pilot Upgrade to a new stance in the Copilot seat (position 4). Like the CITV turret on the Main Battle Tanks, the Scout Helicopter’s Laser Designator is permanently available to players who have received the unlock.

Repair tool damage against enemy vehicles lowered by 10%.

Changed reload behavior on Tank / Tank Destroyer cannon weapons to prevent being able to fire 2 shots from different weapons quickly one right after another.

Firing mode can now be seen from the vehicle passenger seats where you are allowed to fire your own weapons.

Fixed the hit indicator showing when entering a vehicle after previously shooting a soldier.

Increased the damage helicopter and jet rockets do to helicopters, jets and infantry.

Increased the damage helicopter gunners and IFVs do to helicopters and jets.

PERSISTENCE RELATED TWEAKS & FIXES

Changed how MCOM station defend/attack kill score is calculated. Victim no longer needs to arm/disarm the crate but rather be in a 5 meter radius of the crate. Also increased kills needed for the Crate Defend Ribbon from 2 to 4. Overall, these changes should make it somewhat easier to get the ribbon, while increasing the opportunity for strategic play around MCOM stations.

Premium Engineer assignments are now counting all shotgun kills independent from the class using it.

Fixed so you can get score from awards in coop.

Accuracy dogtags now show the correct stats.

Coop Stars and dogtag are now properly unlockable and equip able.

Gun Master and Domination Winner ribbons and medals added.

Fix for assignment with multiple dependencies showing as unlocked in frontend. (Jack of All Trades & Only for the Dedicated)

UI RELATED TWEAKS & FIXES

Added letters to the capture point icons displayed directly over the mini-map.

Fixed the grenade counter acting strangely when entering a vehicle with a grenade in hand.

Fixed the damage indicator which showed the wrong direction if the damage dealer was dead.

Fixed the hit indicator showing when spawning or closing the in game menu.

PC specific: Fixed laser designator related icons disappearing from the screen when you enable the chat.

Fixed a bug where the clan tag sometimes shows as the player ID.

Added clan tags in nametags and kill card.

PC specific: Fixed the vehicle hit indicator being shown each time you re-enter the first person camera of a ground vehicle.

Fixed so commorose VO works when sitting in an AA vehicle.

Fixed so you get the critical health fullscreen color tint while in the post revive state.

Removed the join button in the server list for non-Premium users on Premium exclusive servers.

Fixed so the spawn menu always disappears when you are revived.

Bugfix the colorblind objectives showing the wrong icons and blinking with a black background.

Fixed M-Com distance not updating if user moves towards it with EOD Bot.

Mortar strike explosions are now shown on the HUD for the shooter.

MISCELLANEOUS TWEAKS & FIXES

Fixed so the MAV gadget will not remain floating in midair if the user exits it while still flying.

Fixed bug where it was possible to shoot while transitioning from sprint into prone.

Fixed so you can’t revive a player who switched team since he died.

Fixed two exploits on Donya Fortress that allowed players to get on top of the level.

Fixed bug where you could get an incorrectly calculated longest headshot with the EOD bot.

PS3/Xbox 360 specific: Added map rotation settings to preset list in detailed server info. Players can now see all relevant settings that are being run on the server.

Xbox 360 specific: Introduced a clickable promotional spot on the main menu.

Schematics and further notes

PLAYSTATION 3 SPECIFIC INFO

Patch goes live: September 4Armored Kill goes live: September 4 for Premium members / September 18 for non-PremiumsPatch size: 1.53GBArmored Kill size: 1.55GBHow to download patch: When starting the game, the patch will automatically download. It is mandatory to accept this download if you want to play the game.How to download Armored Kill: Armored Kill is available on the PlayStation Store and in our in-game store as a manual download. If you are a Premium member, this download will be available at 0 cost.

XBOX 360 SPECIFIC INFO

Patch goes live: September 4Armored Kill goes live: September 11 for Premium members / September 25 for non-PremiumsPatch size: 1.44GBArmored Kill size: 1.56GBHow to download patch: There will first be a small (184MB) Title Update automatically downloaded when you start the game. When restarting the game, you will get a popup notifying you that Multiplayer Update 4 is available. It is not mandatory to accept this, but we advise you to do so. Otherwise, you can find Multiplayer Update 4 both on Xbox Live Marketplace and in our in-game store as a manual download.How to download Armored Kill: Armored Kill is available in our in-game store as a manual download. If you are a Premium member, this download will be available at 0 cost. If you are not a Premium member, you can also find Armored Kill on Xbox Live Marketplace.

PC SPECIFIC INFO

Patch goes live: September 4Patch size: ~2.2GBArmored Kill size: 3.2GBArmored Kill goes live: September 11 for Premium members / September 25 for non-PremiumsHow to download patch: As soon as you start your Origin client, the latest game update will automatically start downloading (unless you’ve disabled the option “Automatically keep my games up to date”, in which case it will start downloading when you try to run the game). In Battlelog, you will be notified from the Game Manager. Once you acknowledge the update, it will start downloading within the Origin client.How to download Armored Kill: Armored Kill will automatically download if you start Origin or if you are logged in to Battlelog. You can also start the download from the Battlefield 3 game details page (i symbol) if Origin is already running.